A Day in Their Lives
by Sapphire98
Summary: First story, soo... Neah and Mana have been on the run for a while now, and this is their life now from their perspective. Set after Neah betrayed the Noah family. Rated T for language and themes.
1. Neah

**A/N: **Okay… so this is my first story, and in a nutshell summary (I'll call it a shellmary. One of my quirks is making up "new" words by meshing them up with another), here it is: After Mana and Neah go on the run, you'll be seeing a day in their life from Neah and Mana's PoV. However, things quickly turn intense as events conspire against the Noah and his brother. Now onward to the story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own dgrayman or any of its characters. I do not own anything except for this story's ideas. Please don't sue me.

**XoOoOoOoX**

Neah saw a wagon, and had (luckily) the exact amount of money needed to hitch a ride for a little way to another town. When they arrived, they found out that the town was called Manchester, somewhere in England. It was small, nice, and quaint; exactly the type of town that will turn into a big city decades from now, if all goes well.

_Why beg and borrow when you can take? _Whispered the Noah inside him. Neah froze, and shoved the voice away. He did _not_ need this right now, in a small village _where no one can ever find out-_

He quickly broke that thought into little pieces. Mana would know, and he was starting to look worried.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Just fine." Neah said. He knew Mana wouldn't believe him one bit.

"Uh huh..." he said skeptically. "Is… _it _bothering you again?" Mana asked. The driver looked back in (false) understanding. He probably thought that there was a bully or an evil dog or something.

Before he could answer, the driver stopped and gruffly said, "Okay, I took you where you wanted to. Time to go."

They left, paying the amount and went off to earn some money for tonight's stay and (hopefully) good food. Neah went to a bar to play some instruments (specifically the piano) while Mana went off somewhere to earn some Pounds with his clown tricks. Neah sighed. He remembered a time when he could go around a town and wonder what kind of secrets would be there. After a couple weeks on the run, all the towns would kind of blend together. On the bright side, at least his piano skills have improved. He talked to the barkeep, which jumped at the chance to get some extra money li_ke all predictable scum-_

Neah quickly went over to the piano and started playing his little heart out.

**XoOoOoOoX**

**A/N:** Sooo... What do you guys think? This is only the first chapter, so don't worry if you want more. Or if you didn't like it, at least you don't have to read anymore. Can I ask for reviews here? If you do decide, go full stream on the them. Do not hold anything back. I _want _to be a better writer, and I can't be one unless you give out constructive criticism. Remember though: There's a difference between constructive criticism and flaming. Thank you for spending your valuable time reading this green writer's story. :D**  
**


	2. Mana

Mana was a bit worried about his brother. That face he pulled in the wagon? That's not usually him. He started juggling while balancing on one foot on top of a giant ball. _That_ move drew an applause and quite a few whistles. He smirked. Neah always asked him why he even tried this stuff and it ended up feeding them. Wow, that's irony.

He looked up at the sun and saw that it was almost noon. He closed up his act, and as he was about to leave, a little kid ran up and hugged him.

"Thank you for the show mister," he said, looking up with adorable silver gray eyes. "Will you do it again tomorrow?"

Mana smiled sadly and said, "No, sorry. I'm a traveling clown. I'll only stay here one night, and then I'm on my way."

"Aaawww," he pouted. "I really liked your show though mister. Can't you stay here at least one more day?" he started doing some puppy eyes. His parents walked over to get him. "Come along now, Mister Clown has to go eat too, you know."

The kid pouted some more, but waved goodbye. Mana waved back, and silently started cursing the war. Damn it, why did it have to be this way?

Wandering back with these thoughts, he suddenly heard screaming and rushed toward them. He dimly thought that this was _not_ one of his best ideas, and that was comparing what he did the past couple weeks. He saw something that before all this would be exactly like a theatre's horror show and worse, but now it was almost halfway routine. Mana stubbornly did not want to see them, regardless of how many times he did.

He saw Neah fighting the balloon-shaped monsters called Akuma. At their first stage, they all look the same, save for that mask on their face. It was the "face they wore when they were alive". One of them had adorable eyes.

Wait, what?

_One of them had adorable eyes._

_Oh my God._

**XoOoOoOoX**

**A/N: **Sorry for the short chapter, and the cliffhanger, but I'm gonna change up the format in chapter 3. This is just me finishing a part of Mana's perspective, and _then _I'll change it to both brother's perspective. And yes, I am cruel, but only to book characters. They aren't real, thank God. Otherwise dgrayman would've been one depressing/paranoia-filled place to live in. Also, I'm trying to make this fairly realistic for the 1800s, so is it working? Thanks for your answers people!

**Note: **I do not own dgrayman or any of its characters. They all belong to their respective owners. Question. Do I have to say this every chapter or can I just say "Pretend I said this" in the later ones?


	3. Together

Neah was pissed off when that gray-eyed kid went to the bar. He looked about 7 years old and babbling when he came by, which only served to annoy Neah a bit more. There wasn't a lot of business for a Saturday and his fingers were aching. The little kid was talking about losing his parents or something. The boy flicked his gaze over to the piano and stopped. He smiled.

He changed.

Akuma are weapons that are made by human foolishness and sorrow. Or so the Baro- the _Earl_ always told him. He thought that he should get used to the sight by now.

He didn't. Anyone that can get used to seeing little kids _explode_ is not in his or her right mind. Maybe that's why he betrayed his family.

Maybe that's why he joined them in the first place.

"My lord…" the machine crooned. "Come back. The Baron wishes you sssooo…" The machine sounded like someone took a sword and started swishing it next to a wall. "It'sss not too late…"

_It's right, you know, _the Noah whispered… sadly? That's scary. A voice in my head with emotions? _It's never too late. Even though you killed a member of our family, we still forgive._ The voice grew hard. _But we __**never**_ _forget._

"Forget it! Never again!" Neah called back, ignoring a sudden spike of pain in his head. That seemed to be a trigger, because anyone that was still in the bar shifted into an Akuma. There were two Level 3s, seven Level 2s, and five Level 1s. Neah smirked. Compared to a certain other Noah, this was cakewalk.

The bar exploded, and Neah started fighting. The first priority were the Level 3s because they're the ones that might actually be smart. Then he heard a couple shots firing down from a rooftop.

_Stupid human. A bullet or 5 won't matter much._ Neah looked, and there, somehow on a rooftop, was a certain redhead that Neah had the misfortune to meet.

On the bright side, his Noah side was actually shown up.

**XoOoOoOoX**

Mana was too busy being half scared out of his wits from being hugged by a dead body that when the shots rang out, he jerked. That shocked him out of his reverie and he looked in the direction of the shots. He saw Cross there with his Innocence called Judgment firing his shots at the Level 3s. They were pretty fast, dodging each of those bullets. The Level 2s were circling around Neah and Cross. They were so busy with the big fish that they didn't pay attention to the small fry.

One of those Level Ones took a shot at Cross when his back was turned. He noticed a bit too late.

Mana yelled, "On, Abata, Ura, Matarakato, Baru*!" The bullet abruptly froze as it visibly strained trying to reach Cross. He immediately shot a look at Mana that mixed gratitude along with the message: Talk later. _Immediately_ later.

And so the battle went on, with Mana providing a little back-up here and there and possibly saved Cross and himself a couple times. Some Akuma tried to get at him, but Neah and Cross fought them off.

And so the battle finished.

Cross came by huffing, and demanded, "Where the hell did you learn magic!?"

"From me." Neah stepped up and stood beside Mana. "I'm disappointed Cross. I thought you were better than that," Neah teased playfully.

"I couldn't just stand there," Mana said. "I had to help some way so I got Neah to teach me some moves. It took me a long time to learn that one, but I'm glad I did."

"I'm glad too. It just about saved my ass a dozen times," Cross replied.

"Anyways, what're you doing here?" Neah asked. " I thought you loved HQ. On a mission or something?"

"Yep. Damn Black Order sent me to the middle of nowhere to investigate some rumors about the Silver Killings. One guy who lived to tell the tale was babbling something about 'silver eyes' and 'beware'." He made those little quotation marks with his hands. "But enough about me, you two are bloody on the run. How the hell did you even make it out of there?"

"Sorry, trade secret," Neah said, shooting Mana a look. Neah didn't like to talk about it. "It's not safe here. We have to get away right now, before the police come."

"Right, right," Cross mumbled as they started speeding away.

**XoOoOoOoX**

*This was an actual spell in dgrayman. It was in the Ark arc, with Cross trying to slow down the Egg Download. Yes, I am a researcher. I want to make this as accurate as possible. I got perfectionism from my dad, so don't blame me.


	4. Emerald Green

Neah scouted around the area they camped out just in case there was an Akuma with a shape shifting ability. They were camping in a dark, forested place. He really should've been able to detect the Akuma in the bar. Maybe his inner Noah was purposely masking the Akuma.

That... isn't good. Him and Mana basically relied on that to survive the past few weeks. This is _just_ like a story where everything slowly gets worse and worse. Guess he'll just have to rely on good ol' gut instinct.

When he got back, there was a campfire. Cross and Mana already had a nice cup of coffee brewing.

"Do you have Tim?" Neah asked Cross. "You didn't sell him off for one of your debts did you?"

"Geez, thanks for the faith. And yes, I _do _have Tim." Cross dug around in his pockets and got a curious golden ball with wings from it. It sat there for a minute before coming to life. Neah was pretty proud of Tim, what with his ability to evolve and adapt, along with being able to record anything he sees. He lent it to Cross and put a message in there just in case things… didn't go exactly as planned. He fluttered his wings as he flew around in circles before it settled down on a branch of a tree.*(1)

"How's life in the Order?" Mana asked.

"Boring as hell, and anxious on top of it. There was news of _something _going on in Tokyo, but we just don't know _what._ Well, everyone except for me. And they always wonder why I'm so relaxed." He flicked a match, lit a cigarette and leaned against a tree. "We also just finished helping the Civil War end. The sooner a war's ended, the less people die, and the less Akuma we fight. How's life on the run?"

"Hell." Both Neah and Mana said. They looked at each other and did a brotherly smirk.

"Traveling _every_day in fear isn't exactly a good way to live," Mana said.

"Yeah, and to top it off, I'll have to take a limit on my powers. After what happened in Tokyo, I can't use the Ark. Those damn Akuma can also detect me if I use just a _little_ of my powers. And now, I can't even sense _them_." Neah added on frustratingly.

"Tough. Learn to be an Exorcist now," Cross said uncaringly. "Wait, you can't sense them?"

"I think it's my inner Noah. If it can influence that far, I'd better watch out just in case. I might attack you guys or something," Neah tried saying it jokingly. It was obvious that he was just saying it to lighten the mood.

There was an awkward silence afterward. The coffee was passed around and was un-enjoyed because there was no sugar.

Suddenly there was a snap of a twig, and all three boys immediately stood up, with the "fight or flight" instincts already filling them with adrenaline.

Suddenly a wolf's howl filled the air, and it leapt into the air towards Neah.

He caught a glimpse of silver in its eyes as it slowly changed to the emerald green of Innocence.

Before it got to Neah, Cross shot it in the leg and then all hell broke loose. In the dense forest, it was hard to move around, so the first priority would be to either knock down all the trees or to get out of the damn forest. Choice B seemed to be the best. Since Neah had suddenly turned into an Innocence and Akuma magnet, he started running for the opening of the forest.

"Hey! You mangy mutt!*(2)" Neah yelled at the monstrosity. "I'm right here!" He stuck his tongue out and ran the fuck out of there.

_Innocence, _the Noah snarled hatefully.

**XoOoOoOoX**

Mana was about to relax when that damned wolf came out of _nowhere_ and immediately tried to attack his little brother. He panicked, while Cross shot the wolf in the leg, his face detached but concentrated at the same time. Mana quietly started murmuring spells to slow down the wolf when he noticed its eyes changed from a quiet silver to an fierce emerald green.

Ah, Mana thought. That's why it's chasing Neah. He fired his spell and caused the wolf to slow down as it chased Neah to the entrance. Cross shot it a couple more times, but it only seemed to make the wolf angrier. Eventually, there was a sound kind of like shattering glass as the wolf once again bounded towards Neah as he led it away with insults that got more and more creative and vulgar.

"That son of a-!" Cross shouted. "Dammit! It might be a Parasitic!" he chased after it firing more rounds and even more vulgar insults. Neah's insults had nothing compared to that guy. Mana started chasing after them. The wolf was in clear open ground, and the full moon that they couldn't see before was now clearly visible. He saw Cross and Neah working together(?) while they were still using all of their air insulting the wolf and somehow, each other.

Cross was working at capture and contain, but Neah was gradually working a bit darker. The wolf tried biting Neah, but he was too fast. It tried clawing at him, and it got Neah in the arm. He let out a cry, but was still on his feet. That's when he started abandoning capture and contain.

Cross was firing for all he was worth, but eventually he had to reach a limit to however many bullets he had left and need to reload. Mana started chanting again, but magic strained him if he used it too much. Having a coma in childhood was not a sign of good health. He fired the spell once again, and put everything he had into it.

He shot the wolf, and fell to his knees. He grit his teeth. Irony. It shows up at the worst time, and it's never light. He wanted to help, but he ended up completely useless in the end. They'd just have to use his magic as best as they could.

The last sound he heard was the sound of Cross and Neah insulting the wolf and each other, and the wolf's anguished howl.

**XoOoOoOoX**

**A/N: **Made it to 1000! I think I just busted my brain out of good ideas. Just to get this out of the air, S.E Akuma (**S**ilver **E**yed Akuma) was just a shout out to Hoshino Katsura-san's other work, Zone, which was the beta to dgrayman. In it, Allen is actually a girl who was brought back as an Akuma inside her brother. If I spoiled it well... sorry. I think this is a good day's (night's?) work. You? Thank you anyone for actually reading this far!

*(1): Thank you Alex Penedo for giving me the idea to at least tell where Timcampy (Timcanpy? Timcampi? I have no idea what's the correct spelling, but I learned Timcampy, so that's what I'm sticking with) went.

*(2): That insult that Neah gave out was a shout out/reference to Fullmetal Alchemist episode 4. Ugh, that episode made me cry _and _gave me nightmares. It was still good though.


	5. Dark Matter

Neah was running as fast as his little legs (compared to Wolf-mutt behind him, at least) could carry him and reached a grassy plain that was conveniently there. He silently thanked whatever higher power put it there, at least for tonight.

_Fight it, _his Noah hissed, hatred dripping from every word. _You know you can defeat it. Why should you not? A prince such as you should not run as a coward. Even a fallen one. Use your powers, and you will live. Surely you would wish to, as would the Duke of Millennium._ A million needles pricked his head as he still ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He suddenly felt his Noah side rush forward as a bigger presence in his mind. Neah violently shoved back against it as hard as he could.

"Dammit, not now," Neah muttered. He turned back to fight the wolf as it closed in on him. He looked behind Wolf-mutt and saw Cross behind it.

Okay, he thought. Bullfighting tactics seem to be the best course of action here. If Wolf-Mutt pays too much attention to one person he get hit from behind from another, unless it suddenly revealed another c_urs_ed Innoc_ence _power.

Cross was probably thinking of the very same thing. Despite appearances, he was actually very smart. He used to be a Science Department… scientist, actually **fixing **and/or tinkering with In_no_cence, before he got tangled up in certain… secrets.

Anyways, more Inno_cence _to the cause, the faster the Black Order might actually get lucky and hopefully strike a critical hit against _the_ _Earl._ Neah silently started cursing the damned war. Why did it have to be this way?

"Cross, fire at it like there's no tomorrow!" Neah shouted. It sounded husky, even to him.

"Obviously!" Cross shouted back. "Otherwise there might be no _today!" _Neah filed that one comment away in case he had to use it. It _was_ a pretty good one. Cross ran as close as he dared to the wolf and let loose the mother of all burns.

"Hey you! Yeah you! Your mother was a bitch!" Cross taunted. "Maybe you should just go back to your _hole _and live single!"

Pun unintended.

His taunts worked like a charm. A whole lot better than Neah's had anyway. He saw the Wolf-mutt's ears flick and looked (possibly?) annoyed as it swished over to Cross, though it still seemed reluctant to harm him. Neah swiftly took advantage, but he spied Mana chanting another spell. He vaguely felt worried for him but just couldn't remember why. He remembered something about a coma; his thought's _getting blurry._ He struck the wolf as hard as he could and jumped back. Instead of turning back like they thought Wolf-mutt would, it moved like it was trapped in syrup.

Cross started firing like there was no today, shooting at its legs to make sure it couldn't move when he dragged it back to HQ over to Hevlaska for the "Reckoning" as they waited for another Accommodator.

_Impressive. That freeze spell requires quite a lot of strength of spirit, and to bind Innocence in __**that **__way…_ the presence seemed fascinated with this. Neah thought that this couldn't be good, but his head was getting foggy when he thought in that direction. As the wolf started to move normally, he started to raise his arm, and froze. He stared at his arm. He couldn't feel it, but it was still working just fine. Blood was running freely from it.

_It doesn't matter_. There was a battle to fight, and he'll worry about it later.

"Hey Wolf-mutt! There's your full moon, and Cross has your silver bullet!" Neah shouted.

"Lure it at me, why don't you, retard! We're all on the same side!" Cross called back.

"Yeah, except you're the only one with a gun!" he retorted. The wolf turned to face him and lunged at his neck while he was busy calling back, but when Cross tried to shoot it, Wolf-mutt jumped up and tried to land on top of Neah. Neah dodged just in time.

The wolf rumbled, and started shaking. The previously 4 foot tall wolf turned into an 8 foot tall one, with literal shoulder blades. The rest of its dark gray fur turned completely white and it dropped its mouth in a doggy howl. That howl release some _cursed _energy that flung him back a couple yards and caused everything to start blurring. Suddenly, things snapped into focus. Cross shot it in the mouth while its mouth was still open from the howl.

_That _seemed to work. The wolf reared its head back and whipped towards Cross. Neah could see the_ Accommodator use its Innocence to attack the Parasitic._

"You alright there Neah?" Cross called. "Or is one sonic boom just a little too much for you to handle?" he taunted.

Neah felt furious at that statement. A_ mere __**human **__mocking a Noah? Could he have handled it better than himself? _He shook his head. Not important. Must keep head clear. Fight. Coming. Head. Keep. Clear. Must. Remember.

_Remember what?_

He shook his head. He had to get ready. The parasite was getting ready to pounce.

He saw the parasite move towards him and started drawing in as much Dark Matter as he could. There were people there, and he drew most of it from them. He shaped it in his hands and blasted the parasite with as much of it as he could.

It didn't even have a chance.

The wolf was flung away as easily as a rag doll and streaked across the plains like a silver-white comet. It was slammed into a tree from near the forest opening. There was a delightful _(sickening?)_ crunch as the wolf slowly slumped down to the tree's roots. It shuddered, giving out one last, haunting breath and laid still.

It was _glorious_. _Or was it disgusting?_ a voice asked in the back of his head. He shoved it away.

He turned to face the other Accommodator, ready to strike it down.

_Wasn't he a friend?_

**XoOoOoOoX**_  
_

**A/N: **Things are ramping up! I am pretty proud of my taunts during this. I thought it was pretty good. It may be inappropriate, but that's what the T for teen sign's for. Sorry for the 2 day delay, I was completely _buried _in homework. Also, I'm thinking of writing from Cross's perspective next story, since all the action's gonna be from that side. Can I do that? That kinda doesn't feel right... Also, thank you anyone who has read this far! If you have the chance, review! Once again, I have (_just _reached) 1000 words. Nothing to be proud about, but I'll take it as an accomplishments by my standards. Those of you that can (quite easily) reach 1000 words...

I'm jealous. *siiigh* I've got a long way to go...

**Edit: **Today, November 8, 2012, I got 14 views to my profile. Talk about creepy...


	6. Idiot Noah

Cross thought he was pretty strong when it came to Innocence, strategic ability and strength.

Turns out, he had nothing next to an awakened Noah.

This _had _to happen when I ran out of bullets, Cross thought angrily. And he thought the damn _wolf _was troublesome enough. It was pretty strong, and he was completely positive that the wolf would've given them the old "one-two" and worse, if that dumbass Neah didn't suddenly power-up and became "the worse challenge in the middle of the night _ever."_

"Oh…" Cross started cursing a _lot _more than he ever did on the wolf. More than innocent children needed to hear, anyway. "Neah, come on! From crazed rabid wolf to crazed rabid Noah! If you're going to throw that much shit at me, at least _pay _me!"

Golden eyes flared, with (hopefully) familiarity. Cross highly doubted this. Then they started dimming as the Noah presumably took 100% control over his motor functions. Maybe that wasn't exactly the best thing to say.

The idiot Noah tried to do his Dark Matter Blast. Luckily it was one of those slow beams that needed extra juice, but it was also the kind that would be 100% sure to kill us "lowly humans".

Cross fired the last round inside his gun at the idiot Noah's hand and quickly reached into his belt to try to reload.

The Noah doubled over, his hands bleeding vaguely black, though it could just be the night. Hopefully. If not, that was a very bad sign. As in, the probability his death rates over is 200%.

Cross ran for the hills, literally, as fast as he could, reloading along the way. He wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell if he went to the forest because Cross was pretty damned sure that the Noah could just make the entire forest to collapse on him. That wolf wasn't one-hit killed for nothing, and that looked like one the weaker blasts that he could've pulled off.

He reached the top of the hill and fired at the oncoming Noah. He dodged it easily, just as expected. He kept firing, trying to drive the Noah back into the trees and hopefully smash enough sense into him.

Cross guessed that the Noah knew that trick. He immediately dodged and flew in from the opposite direction of the trees, and started to close in. The Noah was in no hurry because he knew that Cross was out of tricks and it was inevitable that eh was going to die. He immediately started cursing the war as much as he could for his final breath. He didn't want it to end like this. Then he spotted a streak of gold that's chasing behind the flying Noah.

Streak of AU*(2)?

Eureka! Timcampy, I am _so_ glad that I didn't sell you for my debts, Cross thought. Although, there _was _this one time I did something at the red-lights district involving a girl during a mission…

"You idiot Noah!" Cross shouted with renewed vigor. "Fucking stupid of you not to realize that I brought backup! Did you really think I was dumb enough not to bring reinforcements to this trip? Idiot!"

The Noah was pretty savvy, all things considering. He turned around, but tried to blast Cross first. He leapt away from the Death Bolt and rolled down the hill. The flying little booger of a golem smacked dead center into the Noah's head and bit it like there was no today.

That seemed enough to give Neah a fighting chance against his inner Noah. Timcampy flew away and landed on top of Cross's head. The Noah stopped, anger pouring off of him, and somehow, there were two different kinds of the anger. There was the "control-freak" anger, scaled 700 out of 1000, and the "give-me-back-my-fucking-motor-controls" anger scaled 701. The latter type of anger somehow seems completely understandable.

Neah was starting to look normal again, what without the gray skin, and his stigmata. The gold eyes remained though. If anything, they seemed to be getting brighter, feverish even, if only because it was dark. Hopefully.

He collapsed, but before he did, the AU in his eyes turned back to his natural eye color. Cross groaned. Lovely. Stuck with cleaning up Neah's messes again. As soon as he got up, he'll kick the idiot Noah in the head and make him spill all the plans that he had.

Cross heard Mana stir. Shit, he forgot about him! He picked himself off the ground, rushed over to him and slapped him across the face. He woke up quite quickly after that.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Mana yelled.

"Had to make sure you didn't slip into a coma," Cross said, hiding his relief. He didn't know what to do if Mana _did._ Speaking of him, Mana looked like he had a few choice words to say until he spied Neah still knocked out on the plain.

"Neah!" Mana tried to rush over to Neah's side, but Cross blocked the way.

"He had some problems," Cross said carefully. "So I knocked some sense into him. It might not be safe to go near him. Wait, say, an hour and see if he pulls through."

Mana glared at him, but grudgingly acquiesced. Cross didn't give him enough credit. He was smart enough to know when he could be able to help and when the best help would be to do nothing but to hope for the best.

"I'll go back to the camp site that we made and bring us back the stuff we ditched over there," Cross said. He stood up.

Mana stood up too. "No, I'll go get it. You were busy fighting against that wolf and the Noah. Take a break." He started going back to the woods. Cross let him. He knew what it felt like to be useless. He felt it everyday whenever he couldn't save someone killed by an Akuma.

It was never a feeling you would be able to get used to.

Mana came back.

And so, they watched.

**XoOoOoOoX**

Mana wasn't there when it happened, but he could guess.

As he watched, Neah turned faintly gray at certain moments. They sat far enough that if Neah woke up a Noah, they were prepared.

And he hated every minute of it. He used to remember a time where he could just watch his brother smile in his sleep. That minute was over, and the time in between felt like a lifetime ago. Why did the war end up like this? He thought bitterly.

Cross's face was stoic, but his body language said otherwise. He was tensed, ready to move at a moment's notice. He didn't show it, but he was worried about Neah too. Once you get to actually be friends with Cross, he's a pretty nice(?) guy.

Even though Mana was pretty sure that Cross was going to kick Neah in the head and make him spill out all of his plans. Even Mana didn't know all of them.

He hated the waiting the most. It made Mana think about how things were like _before _they knew about the war. Most of all, Mana didn't like how useless he was. The only thing he can do is slow things down, which might sound useful, but is rarely used in practical application. The most he can do the spell per day, after training for weeks, is about five times.

He saw Neah stir, and his eyes flickered open, gold, and then closed and faded back into unconsciousness.

Irony. Mana had a coma in his childhood. Neah has a coma in his teenage years.

Damn this war.

**XoOoOoOoX**

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, just got stuck with a flood of homework. How'd ya think the chapter was? Thank you for taking the time to actually _read _my story. I hope you have good reviews! Thank you so much! Oh, by the way, are the characters as close as IC as they can get? You know, with just the current information. Just asking!

*AU: Gold on the Periodic Table of the Elements


	7. Another Dawn

Neah walked until he could not walk any farther.

He collapsed on the floor, and for the first time, he looked around at his surroundings.

It was completely dark, but he was clearly in a hall. On the walls, there were pictures; little more than vague blobs coloring the blackness. There was one painting that faintly glowed in the dark. It was a picture of him sitting on a tree on the day Mana finally woke up from his coma.

Neah felt himself smile at that memory. Any day that was before his time of secrets was a great time in his book. Besides, a month waiting for someone to awaken from the living death was a painfully long time. Another painting faintly glowed. This time, it was a picture of one of his dinners with the Noah.

He felt wistful of that. It was before his accidental discovery of the secret. It was when they were a family, with Road hugging him around the neck from behind, catching him off guard. His family members that were awakened, meanwhile, were laughing their butts off. This made him jokingly wary of her and told him that Road was full of surprises.

But then…

So was he.

His hand stung, but he was so exhausted, he could barely drag it up to see _why_ it stung. In his experience, you should never ignore any injury no matter how small. It _will_ come and bite you in the ass. You never knew that something that could seem so small could become something huge. And not in a good way.

He stared at it. There was a bullet lodged into it, and yet it only stung. It was like the arm he couldn't feel before but could use perfectly fine. He couldn't_ feel any pain. _Even for a former Noah, being hit by Innocence guns and claws is something that he would not be able to brush off.

Another painting glowed brighter, but in the dark hall it was brighter than any gaslight he ever saw. Almost against his will, he looked at the picture. This time it was one about a mission that Lord Millennium sent him and a newly awakened Noah on a mission in Germany. He had a nice time with that Noah, with the newbie being savvy, witty, and clever.

He just didn't seem to have a heart. Neah himself was even worse off than he was, being the elder Noah in that story.

He would've stayed that way too, if he hadn't learned the secret.

That snapped him out of his haze of exhaustion partially. Why was he even in this hall? Is there even an end? Why are my memories on the walls of this hall?

Was all this only a distraction? If so, then to what?

Suddenly, he felt blood trailing down his head. Lovely. Did his Noah have complete control over his body now? That explained how he was able to brush off the pain because the Noah was the one feeling it. Regardless of how much lip the Noah gave to him, it never wanted Neah to die. Then there would be no host for it to manifest in.

He cursed, dragging himself to his feet and lurched forward. He was sure that this "hall" had a "door" and was willing to run as long as he could to find the exit to his darkened subconscious. He was not willing for his inner Noah to slaughter Mana and Cross. He heard the Noah's furious howl.

As he skidded to a stop, he found his first dead-end; otherwise he would've smashed flat against the wall. He felt the Noah chuckle around him. He tried another path, and found yet another dead-end. He kept running.

_Give up, my host, _the Noah purred. _Struggling is useless. I will give you control eventually, but after I have killed that fool of an Exorcist and your brother that has only been holding you back._

"_Shut up," _Neah snarled fiercely. "Don't you _dare_ mock of my friends."

_Why not? _The Noah taunted. _The filthy Exorcist does not even deserve his fellow __**human's **__respect. Your __**brother**__, _the Noah spat out hatefully, _only held you back ever since you were a child._

"Cross was there when we found the 'secret'. He has proved to be completely reliable since." Neah said defensively. "Mana is my brother and he has _never_ held me back. He tried his best to help me -"

_But sometimes your best is not enough._ His Noah hissed. _Think of that. Before you continue your mad plan, consider the fact that you could lose your life. If you cease to exist, then so do I. Are you not afraid of death?_

"I am." Neah said frankly. "But some things are more important than death."

The Noah seemed ...surprised by that statement. It was as if it had never even considered the possibility. _More important… than death?_

"There are things that I would give my life for in a heartbeat to change," Neah said. "If this war would've been stopped if I gave my life, I would ask 'what time?' I would go to the Exorcists willingly should my family be spared if they were captured. I would give up everything I have to save Mana, even Cross." He smiled bitterly as he raced down the endless hall. "An utopian ideal, I know, but it's something that everyone should strive for."

There was a silence. Neah saw a light up ahead. The exit! He thought. He raced towards the light, but before he could reach it, he heard the Noah whisper: _A worthy opponent. I have underestimated you._

Then he woke up.

Neah looked around as he processed that he was in the plains and was lying on top of a vaguely comfortable pack. He looked around to find Cross and Mana walking towards him warily.

"Prove that Neah's in the house right now," Cross said immediately, readying his gun.

"When you were drunk, I talked you into actually paying off a debt and you were stuck washing dishes for months," Neah said, smirking at the memory.

Cross immediately put his gun down. "It didn't have to be the embarrassing one!" he complained. Mana, meanwhile, started out sharing Neah's smirk, except that he cracked, and started full-on laughing too.

"Are you okay though Neah?" Mana asked worriedly, after he got his giggles under control. "You aren't…hurt, are you?"

"I feel a lot better now," Neah said, and for once, it was true.

"Really?" Cross asked skeptically. "Just ignoring that you got hit by an Innocence sonic boom and got fired on." He looked at the sun, which was just starting to rise. "Thanks to you, I just missed a full night of sleep fighting not one animal, but a Noah as well. You owe me a favor," he teased.

"Uhh, yeah…" Neah said. He knew exactly what Cross wanted. He went over to him and whispered, "Timcampy will tell you something. I recorded a part of my plan in him." He glanced at the golden ball that was sitting on top of Cross's head to make sure it was still there.

"And I didn't even have to kick you!" Cross said. He sighed. "I have to go back to HQ, and I might not see you again, but… glad you're back, and good luck with your 'plans'. Tell Mana I said good luck as well." He said the mushy parts like someone was pulling his teeth out.

He quickly spun around and said, "I have to go back to HQ and write a report about how the Akuma reached the Innocence first. Don't you love misleading information? See ya!" and with that, he bounded over to the town's train station.

"What did you tell him?" Mana asked.

"Something to help you later on," Neah smiled. "Think of it as a back-up, in case something…happens."

"Ah," Mana said, nodding in older-brotherly-wisdom. He sighed. "Time to go back on the run, isn't it?"

Neah nodded. "Yes. You can go back, you know that, right?" Neah honestly didn't want him to leave, but he also didn't want Mana to suffer along with him.

"What, and leave you here all by yourself?" Mana asked incredulously. "Big brothers protect their little ones, and that's what I'm trying to do. Otherwise I'll lose my manly pride," he added on playfully.

Neah sighed in relief. "Thanks Mana. It means a lot."

Mana's eyes softened. "What are big brothers for?"

And so, the brothers continued to walk, never ceasing on their journey.

**XoOoOoOoX**

**A/N: **My first ending to my first story. *sigh* My special day. I'm sorry for the delay, because of my homework (like usual). This has the most words in one chapter of mine so far, so you guys better enjoy it! Can ya please R&R? There's kinda not enough and I want to know what I did right or wrong. Thank you anyone for bearing with me this far! Story ending: Out!


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